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Steelers rookie mini camp observations (Day 2)

Day 2 — the final day that the Steelers rookie camp is open to the media — started to reveal some players that have a legit shot of either making the 53-man roster, or at least being an option for the practice squad.

This is what I saw:

*Le’Veon Bell wasn’t able to show his power-running style during a pad-less practice, but the rookie second-round pick out of Michigan State sure showed his skill set. During a scramble, Oklahoma rookie quarterbackLandry Jones flung the ball awkwardly in the flat to Bell, who plucked the ball out of the air with one hand. Later on, Bell showed some nimble feet when broke through the line of scrimmage and made a move on safetyAndrew Taglianetti that almost broke the ankles of the rookie safety out of Pitt, who is on a three-day tryout with the Steelers. Very impressive so far, but let’s be honest here. He’s not being judged against NFL-caliber competition yet.

* It was yet another day of struggles for Jones. Now, his passes looked a little more crisp than Friday and he actually did complete a few during 7-on-7, but it also wasn’t pretty at times. Two passes in particular where awful by Jones. First, he tried to dump off a pass to diminutive USC running back Curtis McNeal after going through his progressions, but instead, he threw the ball right into the belly of WVU rookie linebacker Terrence Gavin for an easy score. Later on, Jones badly overthrew tight end Jamie McCoy across the middle that was intercepted by Pitt cornerback Jarred Holley. Like I said, it wasn’t all bad for Jones. He ran a couple designed waggles where he looked nimble, but again struggled with his accuracy. I know it hasn’t looked good for Jones in two days, but it has only been two days. He will get better, there is no doubt about that.

* First-year cornerback Isaiah Green out of Fresno State might be somebody to look out for. He intercepted a pass from Purdue QB Caleb Terbush intended for UConn first-year receiver Kashif Moore. Green followed that up a few plays later with by breaking up a pass down field.

* Rookie right tackle Mike Golic Jr. is a little undersized but was pretty physical on Northern Illinois rookie linebacker Alan Baxter. Penn State and Shady Side Academy tackle Mike Farrell looks like he might have a shot as well. Speaking of Farrell, I had a chance to talk to him for a couple minutes and he told me that Bill O’Brien‘s pro-style offense last year at PSU has helped him out tremendously during rookie camp.

* Standing out were Syracuse safety and fourth-round pick Shamarko Thomas during gunner drills; Utah rookie receiver Reggie Dunn and his crazy speed; fifth-rounder Terry Hawthorne and his smoothness at right corner; and the power and potential of first-year linebacker Marshall McFadden.

That’s all I have for now. The Steelers have a session on Sunday then won’t reconvene until the start of voluntary OTAs May 21. But don’t fret, we will still have plenty of Steelers coverage at the Tribune-Review.

Last year there were a lot of threads on this topic. Posters tried to pick out some of these players as possible keepers. But, with this years huge interest in the draft picks the UDFA's and returning 1 yr players have not received much attention.

At least that is what I was thinking until I did a Google on the Steelers minicamp. Extensive coverage would be putting it very mildly.

Anyway to sum it up the roster is at 90 right now. 41 players were at the minicamp. 33 of those listed on the roster were at the minicamp. Plus 8 others brought in for tryouts and not under contract. The link below has all the players. The link probably won't work but the address is correct.

Every year a few of these players are kept. Either on the PS or some like [ottmh] Golden , Victorian or McFadden get up to the 53. A little early to be guessing if any [besides the drafted players] have a shot.

From the article: "All nine draft picks are there, along with nine first-year players, 15 undrafted free agents who signed with the team and eight more rookies who are in town for a tryout." [All 41 are listed]

It's quite a while to TC/pre-season games when really these players have their chance to make the team but already there are a lot of reports on most of the players. Caleb Terbush?? the 44th ranked QB. Someone said he looked pretty good. Hmm!